Zen Report: Don’t judge Pasadena Health Director until we have all the facts

In this Feb. 25, 2011, file photo, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling looks on during the first half of their NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million for making racist comments. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

This Aug. 24, 2010 file photo shows the city of Pasadena’s new Director of Public Health, Dr. Eric Walsh who replaced Dr. Takashi Wada at Pasadena City Hall in Pasadena. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Keith Birmingham/SXCITY/File)

I don’t know much about sports or politics, but I do know people like Donald Sterling and Dr. Eric Walsh ought to be able to be as stupid as they want to be in their private lives.

In fact, we all should have a higher tolerance for lamebrain comments people say behind closed doors, especially during arguments with significant others. (The appalling audio TMZ posted on April 25 was supposed to be a confidential conversation between Sterling and his girlfriend.)

Of course, I’m not defending Sterling nor his racist comments. I am, however, saying I have said oodles of nasty things to boyfriends during brawls. And I sure as heck don’t want the audio or transcripts posted online for all to see and judge.

Then again, Sterling has a history of bigotry. His provincial viewpoint is probably not news to the other NBA owners who abandoned a peer they’ve protected since 1981, when Sterling bought the then San Diego Clippers.

We know in 2009 Elgin Baylor, the Clipper’s former general manager, sued Sterling for age and race discrimination. In the suit, Baylor alleged Sterling “had a pervasive and ongoing racist attitude” and operated his team using a “Southern plantation-type structure.”

That same year, Sterling paid about $2.8 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged he avoided renting out his property to African-Americans and Latinos.

It was not until Sterling’s racism started to threaten the other owners’ wallets in the form of a potential player boycott and loss of sponsors that his peers decided to disown him.

Even though Sterling seems to be living in another era, his belief system has not prevented him from running his team. The Clippers are not composed of only white players. His team is actually getting better and is no longer a punch line for Los Angeles sports lovers.

Forcing Sterling to sell the Clippers is tantamount to coercing a homeowner to move off your block because that person cooks food that stinks up the neighborhood. Such a situation would never, I hope, be able to happen today.

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Now let’s talk about Pasadena Public Health Director Dr. Eric Walsh. The media has been abuzz about online sermons where Walsh calls homosexuals, the Roman papal system, Oprah, Jay Z, Beyonce, Michael Jackson and Darwin’s theory of evolution one of three offensive things: sinful, satanic or possessed by the spirit of the anti-Christ.

These were public sermons that were later posted on YouTube, but they are still part of Walsh’s private life. We in America have the freedom of speech and religion. Walsh’s eccentric religious beliefs should not end his career as a public servant unless his faith prevents him from doing his job.

On Thursday Pasadena put Walsh on paid administrative leave while it performs an investigation to see if his beliefs interfered with his job performance. So far, Councilman Terry Tornek notes “there is such a profound disconnect” between recent discoveries and the capable public health director he knows.

If the city’s internal investigation reveals lapses in judgment, then I would be one of the first to say, “Off with his head!” But until then, “judge not, lest ye be judged.”

Zen Vuong is a staff writer for the Pasadena Star-News. You can follow Zen at Twitter.com/ZenReport or on Facebook.com/ZenReport.